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This was the final warning – Ben Stokes must grow up now

Steve James

You would hope that the penny has dropped by now. Ben Stokes’s life can never be the same again. He can never be in a situation like that in which he found himself in Bristol in September of last year.

He simply cannot live the lifestyle he was enjoying back then. The nights out, which were probably never as frequent and wild as some assume, are mostly over.

Social media and camera phones changed the scenario for professional sportspeople long ago. Incidents that went unreported in days gone by are nowadays publicised in seconds.

Stokes was found not guilty of affray but his image has still been damagedPHILIP BROWN/GETTY IMAGES

Stokes and others should have twigged that. They did not and the result, even if the legal process found in his favour, has not been a good one for cricket. Its…

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